Of Valentine's, Chocolates and Painting Majors
by Jamie Scarlett
Summary: It is Valentine's Day in Atlantis, and Teyla receives gifts from a mystery admirer. For the SGA10 celebration (this week's prompt was 'chocolate') and because it's Valentine's Day today. Teyla/Lorne, background McShep.


_So I _finally_ finished this, despite all the distractions. __**Teyla/Lorne, background McShep.**_

**Oh, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!**

* * *

There had been a definite change in the mood of the expedition over the last week or so.

Teyla had initially attributed this to the fact that those on Atlantis now had a way to contact Earth, and they no longer had to rely solely on their few trading partners to provide supplies.

She discovered there was another reason. There was apparently an Earth tradition called St. Valentine's Day, which was celebrated at the end of the second week of the second lunar month.

From what she understood of this tradition, it was a day to celebrate love and relationships. It was customary to get the person whom you admired a gift or a card, to let them know of your intentions.

Teyla wasn't expecting to be included in this tradition - she was sure John might gift her something out of kindness, but from what she had observed, John was harbouring a secret affection for Doctor McKay. The flush that appeared on his cheeks and the change in his demeanour every time he and the doctor ended up trapped together on missions was evidence enough.

But in the last few days leading up to Valentine's Day, she had been finding gifts on her bed when she returned from missions. A bouquet of what appeared to be Athosian flowers, a new set of Bantos rods (which she broke in by thoroughly beating John in their next sparring session), and a flat box full of small brown hearts.

This last gift was treated with a small amount of suspicion. The little hearts were light, but left brown smudges on her fingers if she held them too long. They smelled divine and seemed to be edible. She realised they tasted as good as they smelled when she sucked a smudge off her finger. She took a bite out of one of the hearts. It was like nothing she'd ever tasted before. The only thing she could think of that came remotely close was a cacao bean, a plant she'd been given once or twice during her childhood when there had been a particularly successful trade.

She resisted the urge to eat them all at once, allowing herself a few now and saving the rest for another day. She didn't know when she would get another treat like this; it would be wise to savour it.

Teyla had no idea who was giving her these gifts either. She mentioned it to John after their sparring session with her new rods. He'd told her that he didn't know, but if he found out anything, he would tell her.

* * *

Valentine's Day arrived, the day cold but clear. There were no off-world missions scheduled for today; most of the expedition had the day off.

Teyla ate a few more of the little brown hearts and searched for somewhere quiet to sit. She found the balcony near her quarters to be empty and spent an hour or two there, meditating. Her peace was broken by the sound of the door sliding open. She looked up to find Major Lorne standing there, holding his easel and looking slightly sheepish.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It is quite alright, Major."

Major Lorne smiled at her and set his easel up so that he had a good view of whatever it was he wanted to paint. That simple smile had an odd effect on her; it suddenly felt like her insides were made of the blue jelly Rodney liked so much. Pushing the odd feeling away, she let the sound of the Major's brush strokes on the canvas and the rush of the sea lull her back into her meditative state.

She was pulled out of it again as she felt something wet brush her nose, and was unable to keep from smiling when she smelled the paint.

"Major, I believe you are supposed to paint the canvas, not me."

When she opened her eyes, the Major was standing in front of her, head tipped a little to one side, grinning back at her.

"Y'know, you can call us by our first names. We won't be offended or anything. Call me Evan."

Teyla laughed at the surprisingly playful tone of his voice. "Very well, Evan." If anything, the man's grin only grew wider. Teyla thought he looked quite cute when he smiled like that.

He crossed to his easel to lay down the paintbrush he'd been holding and came back to her, extending a hand to gently cup her cheek.

"Say no," he murmured, blue eyes never leaving hers as he leaned towards her, "and I'll stop, and we can pretend this never happened."

Teyla unfolded herself from her cross-legged position and stood up to rest her forehead against his.

"Why would I want to say no?" She asked, wiping a smear of blue paint from his cheek.

Evan's lips touched hers as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. The kiss was sweet and surprisingly tender, which wasn't what she expected at all.

"So you did get the chocolates I sent you?" Evan asked, licking his lips as he pulled away.

"You were my mystery admirer?" Teyla replied, somewhat shocked. She hadn't really considered who was giving her the gifts, but she wouldn't have thought that it was the rather handsome Major Lorne who was leaving them for her.

"I'll take that as a yes." He replied, taking her hand and leading them back over to the bench she'd been sitting on. "Did you like them?"

"The… chocolates? Yes, thank you. They were delicious. I don't think I've tasted anything like them before."

"You've never had…? Wow." He chuckled and shook his head, looking over at his painting. His smile faded.

"I should pack my stuff away, and it's getting kind of cold out here, so… I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight?"

"Of course, that would be lovely."

He kissed her again, his lips gentle against hers but carrying a promise of something more.

"It's a date. My quarters, 1900 hours? Seven o'clock." He clarified at her puzzled look.

Teyla shivered and nodded. Evan was right, it had gotten awfully cold. "I'll meet you there." She agreed, wiping another smudge of blue off of his nose.

As she turned to go back inside, she thought of something.

"There will be more chocolate, I hope?" His answering laugh followed her all the way back to her room.


End file.
